An image forming apparatus, such as a color printer, may include various units, supplies or other devices that may be replaced by the customer, either due to normal life exhaustion or due to unexpected failures. Customer replaceable units (CRUs) may include fusers and transport belts. Supplies may include process cartridges (e.g., toner cartridges), photoconductive units (e.g., PC drums or belts), and waste containers. Information associated with such supplies and CRUs may be stored in non-volatile memory in the image forming apparatus. Such information may be used to control the printer or to indicate to the user the usage or status of each replaceable device.
A printer may also be replaced as part of a repair operation. The old printer may be serviced at a central location (e.g., a depot service center), after a replacement printer is sent to the customer. Supplies and CRUs may not be shipped as part of the replacement printer. Thus, some or all of the supplies and CRUs may be moved from the failing printer into the replacement printer as part of the repair process. If the information associated with the supplies and CRUs is only stored in system memory in the printer, the information may be lost when the replaceable devices are moved to the replacement printer.